Discussion Time!

[seraphina_snape]

It's Friday! Let's talk about icons! :D

Do you have a favourite "subject" to icon? Like a favourite character, or a favourite show? Are there people/characters/shows/movies/other things that you always come back to and make icons of? And how do you decide on a subject?

Comments

[fueschgast]

The deciding things for me are my main fandom and favorite characters. That's why I make so many Doctor Who icons and, for example, it's likelier I'll produce more icons of Scully than of Mulder (though with these 2 I'm actively trying to balance it).

[alexia_drake]

I loved X-Files but I've never felt the need to make icons. There are tons of fandom I enjoy that I don' make icons of. I think I prefer to make icons that will be useful as userpics, such as the fandoms that are still active where I have discussions about the episodes.

[magicrubbish]

Good thinking. In short , you assess the market value . Even I refrain from making icons from some of my favourite fandoms or topics because there's no taker for these small fandoms anymore.

[alexia_drake]

I've done a ridiculous amount of Harry Potter icons, but I've stopped when the participation ended at my biggest icontest comm named Wizard Icontest, since the comments on those icons post were getting rare, so I did not really see the point to keep going, my interest faded and I've pretty much iconed everything anyway. lol

[magicrubbish]

I'm making a lot of Harry potter icons since I started making icons and I feel still I've barely scratched the surface so I'm gonna continue on it for a while, till I feel I'm done then I shall stop. 😀

[fueschgast]

While I love getting comments, I wouldn't let the unusefulness to others or a prospective lack of comments take the fun out of iconning. There's a short US/Canadian show from 20 years ago that's pretty unknown in North America (but somewhat beloved in Germany, judging by the reruns) called Three for which I've made icons.

*sigh* You're reminding me again how much I miss the community of fandoms. Why did they all have to move elsewhere?

[alexia_drake]

I do make some icons on fandom that people don't seem to care much considering the low amount of comments I get, and I still make them. (for show such as Arrow, Shadowhunters, White Collar, Legion and I don't know how many people will be interested in my Timeless icons yet, I haven't posted any yet) It's just that for the Harry Potter Famdom, my interest was also fading while it was growing for other shows, so I stopped.

[magicrubbish]

I do at times make for smaller fandoms , or lesser popular characters or side roles of big fandoms , with zero care for comments because some times it's just tiresome to make icon of some thing going against your heart's wishes. Afterall , as already discussed , it's all part of finding yourself as a member of the fellow fan-fam.

[goodbyebird]

*sigh* You're reminding me again how much I miss the community of fandoms. Why did they all have to move elsewhere?

Yeah :/ Twitter and tumblr zips by and everything feels fleeting, and AO3 doesn't really work as a social platform. The community feeling has definitely taken a dent. I want my lively playground back!

And while I'd still make icons for my own enjoyment no matter what, if it weren't for the fact I like having my icon posts to look back through - icons very much serve as memory touchstones for me - I wouldn't be posting them, as the time and effort would feel like a waste to me. I get why the graphics people moved on. Tumblr provides likes and reblogs aplenty, so you don't feel like you're posting into the void for no reason.

[magicrubbish]

Completely agree . You summed it up so well that I couldn't think of what to add . I've two tumblr gif blogs - one for exclusive MCU content , another for posting random hollywood content , and the return is massive whereas it takes about 1/5 th of the time to make a good gif set than what it takes to make a proper icon set.

So yes some times it's awfully thankless. And I quite understand why people move on , but it's also true that making icons some how feel more creatively satisfactory for me and yes it's like keeping a fandom logbook over the years. . <3

[abyss_valkyrie]

Oh man,when I go back and see some of the older posts on LJ for inspiration,I miss them,the participation-the number of icons and so many people and the 'lively playground',YYYYES!
I was sucked in by tumblr for a bit but also,I feel like I have actual human interaction on icon communities more than on tumblr.

[goodbyebird]

Yeah, I think that's the case for all of fando, not just the icons. There does seem to have been an uptick in icon requests in this year's fandom_stocking? So hopefully the interest is going up somewhat on that side, meaning more people will be tempted to try their hands at it.

At least we have a handful of active icontests :)

[seraphina_snape]

Main fandom and favourite characters are definitely the deciding factors in my icon-making. If I don't have a set theme or topic, I'll usually go back to my faves or whatever new fandom I'm currently into.